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Food and Drink Bulgaria participated in a round table discussion "Fight against food waste in Bulgaria"

13/02/19

The forum was hosted by the Center for Risk Assessment of the Food Chain of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry.

Representatives of non-governmental organizations, representatives of the state administration, professional and branch organizations of food producers and traders participated in the discussion.

According to European Comission, about 88 million tons of edible food is wasted per year, representing an average of 20% of the total EU food production, the Agriculture Ministry said. The cost of producing this non-consumed food amounted up to 143 billion euro, and the raw materials used for production were estimated at 261 million tonnes.

Most food is thrown away by households - 54%. Every Bulgarian wastes 70 kg. per year, while in the EU average is 173 kg per person. This was reported by Dr. Svetlana Cherkezova of the Center for Risk Assessment of the Food Chain of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, referring to a foreign study. "If no measures are taken, there is a risk that next year the losses on the whole chain will increase by another 40%."

During the discussion, representatives of NGOs stressed the need for changes in the law requiring food marking when provided to the Food Bank. This prevents donation, because is an extra cost and often can not be done without violating the content requirements of the label.

It was proposed by NGOs government to finance the Food Bank in order to reduce food waste.

It is important to set up educational programs and to organise round tables to educate consumers in proper nutrition and planned consumption to reduce food waste.

In 2015, the UN General Assembly adopted the Sustainable Development Objectives by 2030. One of them requires to halve the waste of food per capita at the retail and household level.